Westchester lawmakers tighten ethics code

The Westchester County Board of Legislators this week amended its Code of Ethics to require that an independent consultant review financial disclosure statements and ensure that county officers and employees don’t have any conflicts of interests.

Until now, they’ve been required to file the report, but no one was really vetting them to ensure there was no conflicts.

“There’s no enforcement,” said Legislator John Nonna, a Democrat from Pleasantville. “We have to file these financial disclosures. We file them and nobody’s looking at them.”

He said this change makes government more transparent.

With this amendment, which is supported by County Executive Rob Astorino, a consultant will review whether employees have financial involvement or employment that would affect their ability to fairly and impartially fulfill their duties with the county.

The consultant will be appointed by the Board of Ethics, not the legislators.

If a conflict is found, it will be referred to the District Attorney’s Office.

The push came as part of an agreement with the New York State Comptroller’s Office, which indicated that Westchester wasn’t adequately scrutinizing the documents.

“By adopting this legislation, Westchester County joins the State Comptroller in recognizing that administration and compliance with the county’s Code of Ethics needs to be aggressively and energetically undertaken for the sake of utmost transparency in government,” Chairman Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers, said in a statement. “Public servants that refuse to follow ethical guidelines have no right to be in a position of authority and trust.”